When you come across a flu strain that is unidentified, very virulent, and extremely fatal, it’s time to issue a global health alert. Here’s hoping it peters itself out and never comes back.

The work that myself and thousands of other people (well, our computers did all the work, really…) put into the SETI@home project has netter 150 high-quality suspect signals. Now, we put the big ear on the job by using the giant radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico to investigate further.

“Little Face on the Stapler” This week’s Photo Friday topic is stapler.

It’s that time of year again when the spring peepers begin emerging from wherever they hide during the winter. In a short while, they will be everywhere and loud enough to hear in the house with the stereo on, but right now just the early risers are singing. Here’s a recording in MP3 format taken on my back porch last night just before some big-time thunderstorms hit.

If you’re worried that world events are leading us toward a catastrophe that will force us back to the stone age, then read up now at primitiveways.com, a website dedicated to Stone Age technology. Learn how to start a fire using an ice lens, which may be a useful skill in the depths of nuclear winter.

“Stop Motion” This week’s Photo Friday topic is stop sign.

I’m enjoying the use of the new camera. I get plenty of pleasure from pretending to be an artist, and the technology behind this medium makes it rather easy. Today’s farm photo is my favorite so far, because of the mix of colors and focality [It’s fun to pretend I’ve mastered the English language, too! What is the adjetive that describes the degree of focus something has, anyway?]. I’ve decided it will be fun to participate in “Photo Friday”, too. Each week, the person behind this throws out a subject, and lots of folks take pictures on that topic and post them to their web sites. I’m in!

As we move toward the creation of an American security state, the New York Times magazine asks what such a place might look like.

Deep in the Mexican jungle, a joint US-Mexican government commission built a factory in 1976. Still in operation, this factory produces a single product: man-eating flies.

I’m in Statesboro, Georgia for the weekend, attending the annual Georgia Organics conference. After market farming for year, I have a little bit to share with the other attendees and a whole lot more still to learn.